Moments Together
by Loads of Randomness
Summary: "How do you spell love?" "You don't spell it, you feel it." - Piglet to Pooh Bear, Winnie the Pooh. An unordered series of mostly related one-shots on Emily and Spencer's relationship
1. 1st Feb: First Meeting

**AN: You can completely blame /u/DeejayMil for my new found love of this pairing by the way.**

Wow, that was intense. It had been a while since she worked in a team. Probably too long, this was going to be difficult to get used to. Emily put her game face on, she could do this. She was capable. Everyone walked past with well-practiced ease. Emily was fascinated, they were like a well-oiled machine. Well, they would just have to get used to another cog.

She wished that she could have introduced herself properly to the team, good first impressions and all that. Especially since it looked like no one knew she was arriving today. The slim blonde agent (JJ, was it?) had eyed her curiously the entire time.

Dr Reid was fumbling with his bag. A stuck zip had stopped him moving like the rest. Emily saw a chance to make this all a little bit less awkward.

"Hi," she greeted, standing in front of him hand outstretched. "I'm Emily."

He blinked rapidly at her. She resisted the urge to wave her hand in front of his face.

"Um, yeah. Hotch…Hotch said." He responded looking flustered. "Hi."

A bit jumpy, this one. Her hand was still there. He followed her quick glance and flushed violently.

He swallowed hard and waved his free hand awkwardly. "I…I don't shake hands."

Emily pulled her hand back, blushing. Ouch. "Sorry."

Dr Reid quickly shook his head and stood up. He smiled awkwardly down at her, he was _tall_, "Not your fault. Germaphobe."

"Ah." At least it wasn't a slight on her.

He still hadn't properly introduced himself.

"So, you're the one with all the PhDs?" she said, as he shuffled his papers, recalling some of the information she had been given.

Big brown bambi eyes eyed her but added nothing.

"Was it five?" she queried, knowing full well she was wrong but wanting to antagonise a conversation out of him.

"Three actually," Dr Reid replied quietly, striding out of the conference room.

She jogged slightly to keep up. "Cool."

That made him stop. Ha. He turned to give her a curiously hopeful look.

"Hey, kid?"

Agent Morgan was casually leaning against the wall outside. He looked at her slightly suspiciously. Emily tried not to frown at the very stereotypical alpha-male behaviour.

"All good, kid?" he asked Dr Reid, who was clutching his loose papers to his chest,

He nodded jerkily at the older agent. Just how young was he?

Apparently satisfied that the youngest agent was in one piece, Morgan turned to face her with a smile.

"Derek Morgan," he introduced himself.

"Emily Prentiss, but you already knew that."

They shook hands firmly.

"You're the explosives expert, right?" she asked him, hoping that Dr Reid will feel more comfortable if she didn't come across as interrogating him.

"You've done your homework," he responded, eyebrows raised and looking slightly impressed.

He was still smiling, at least.

"And our expert on obsessional crimes," Dr Reid piped up.

Emily looked questioningly at Morgan. The man nodded at her but rolls his eyes fondly. These two were obviously close. Unusual.

"And what about _you, _Dr Reid?" Emily asked, hoping he would be a bit more at ease.

"M-me?" he asked, wide eyed and blushing again.

"Yeah, what's your speciality?" she asked slightly impatiently.

"Oh, just everything," Morgan interrupted with a broad grin but a note of pride in his voice.

"We've been over this, Morgan. That's _impossible_," Reid sighed in exasperation.

"Reid's our resident genius," Morgan said to her in a mock whisper.

Emily tried to hide her grin. Mustn't isolate anyone too early.

"Intelligence can't be quantified!" Reid protested.

Morgan just rolled his eyes and tugged Reid along.

"Yeah, yeah," he said dismissively, like he'd heard it before. "Let's go before Hotch has an aneurysm."

Emily snorted quietly, she could totally see that from the stern-faced team lead.

Reid smiled shyly at her, allowing himself to be dragged along. Emily noticed that the other agents in the office were looking more curiously at her rather than the two male agents' antics.

"I can walk…" she heard him say as she made a brief detour to grab her bag.

She smiled to herself. Maybe it will good here.


	2. 2nd Feb: Flirting

She couldn't believe he had solved the damn star puzzle. Like, what? Didn't he just hear her say it was impossible?

"There's a lot to hate about you, Dr Reid," Emily settled for saying.

Regretting it almost instantly when she saw the uncertainty briefly flash in those brown eyes of his. She didn't even hear what the rest of the team said in response.

"Sorry," she mouthed at him.

He just shook his head with a smile.

"For you," he mouthed back, gesturing to the now complete star puzzle in his open hand.

Frowning, she reached over and took it. Emily inspected it closely, it was perfect.

"I think I understand the story," he said quietly, giving her an intense look before leaving the plane.

She blushed. Oh.

* * *

She reached across him, deliberately touching him with as much of her body as she could without making it look obvious. He flinched away from her, eyes wide. Emily smirked at him. That _always_ got him riled up. He swallowed nervously and looked down at his papers, ignoring her.

Oh, that was how he was going to play it, huh? It was just as well Emily Prentiss was _always _up for a challenge.

The file she needed just _happened _to be behind Reid, totally coincidence of course. And if her fingers just happened to tap 'Sexy' in Morse code down his spine, well that was just a coincidence too.

His yelp and subsequent kitten-ish glare was a satisfying result. The faint blush across his cheeks made victory just that much sweeter

"You are beautiful," he breathed at her.

The first one startled her. It literally came out of nowhere as they were getting dressed that morning, she had stayed over at his last night for a movie marathon. Not too surprising she supposed, even though there were at that weird stage of not-really-just-friends and no-we're-not-dating. She just shrugged it off and smiled sexily at him.

" 'ant jamila," he said quietly as she passed him a file.

She stopped and stared at him. Since when did Spencer know Arabic? She shook her head and quickly added her contribution to the profile. She felt a warm tinge spread across her body.

"Vy prekrasny," he said cheekily to her as she came back flustered after dealing with the local LEOs.

That made her glare, he didn't even flinch. He _knew _Russian was her weakest language.

Reid just smiled that adorable smile at her. Darn it, the man had ruined her glare.

"Sei bella," he daringly whispered, trying not to draw Rossi's attention on the plane.

She tried not to shudder at the sound of Italian. Emily breathed deeply and opened her eyes to the concerned face of her not-quite-boyfriend. Why did he have to look at her like an adoring puppy?

"Bella" he repeated.

It got easier to hear, coming from his mouth. It helped that his accent was _atrocious_.

"Ederra zara," he wrote to her, slipping a note on top of her case fie that evening.

Okay, she didn't even know what language that was. Although, she guessed it didn't matter considering she knew exactly what it meant. She smiled affectionately at Reid. He was such a nerd about this.

Her nerd though.

"Vous êtes belle," he muttered into her hair.

They were intertwined with each other on his couch again. She had left all of her stuff at his place was her excuse for returning for a second night.

"You're using the formal form," she automatically commented.

He raised his head to look at her intently, "I know."

She blushed deeply. Again.

* * *

"Ha!" she said triumphantly, thumping the piece down.

Reid frowned and peered closely at the board. She looked on smugly. He moved a pawn to block her remaining bishop. Darn it. He grinned at her. Emily scanned the board, aha! He missed it.

"Check!"

Shaking his head in disbelief, the apparent-genius focused harder.

"They're going to burst into flaaaaaames," she sing-songed.

He hushed her and thought hard. Then he closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Yes!

All his pieces were trapped.

"She was far too good at this," he thought proudly.

Reluctantly he moved his rook. Her queen immediately swept in.

"Checkmate!" she crowed, dancing around his desk.

He caught her easily, this dance was _so _predictable and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Her dark eyes widened at looked up at his blazing eyes.

_Oh._

* * *

Morgan scratched his head in confusion as he watched two of his best friends.

"They even _flirt _weirdly," he complained

Rossi chuckled.

"You were expecting something different from those two?


	3. 3rd Feb: Sleepy

Emily yawned widely. It had been a really good night last night. She had a lo of fun. Who knew Reid could be so entertaining?

She looked across her living room. There was an upturned popcorn bowl on the floor, Sergio sniffing curiously at the leftovers, and the title screen of the movie they had been watching last night on the screen.

Spencer muttered something in his sleep and burrowed closer into her side. She smiled down fondly at him. It was so odd to see his face free of animation. It looked so smooth and peaceful. It was also odd, Spencer was always moving, doing something. She stroked his hair, it was so soft and fluffy.

"Blmpf soot and ash," her boyfriend muttered into her shoulder.

Even in his sleep he was talking about experiments.

She nudged him gently, it didn't really take much to wake him up. He clutched her arm tightly but didn't open his eyes. She waited half a minute before nudging him again, this time using more elbow.

"Eeeeemilyyyyyy," he whined pathetically, curling himself up tighter.

Which was an impressive feat in itself. Spencer wasn't exactly designed with couch sleeping in mind. He was too gangly and awkward. Curling up didn't work either, too many angles. Paired with her, not exactly on the short side herself, and you got a bit of a disaster waiting to happen. Emily was just impressed they both managed to stay on the couch all night.

"Speeeeeencerrrrrr," she mocked.

His eyes squinted open as he pouted at her. It was adorable that the great Spencer Reid was definitely not a morning person. Well, pre-coffee anyway.

"Go back to sleep," he moaned, trying to tug her down. "Was comfy."

"I'm hungry," she informed him. "Breakfast is important."

He glared at her, hating the fact that she was right. Even he, person who lived off coffee and air, couldn't deny the obvious, scientific benefits of having a meal at the start of the day. He was wavering.

"If you let me go, I'll have coffee waiting for you," she bribed.

That worked. Typical. He unwound his fingers from her pyjama top and set her free. Allowing herself to stretch widely, as Spencer rubbed childishly at his eyes, Emily moaned in satisfaction as something popped. Oh, that was good. Spencer shook his head, hair flopping. He hated that she did that right next to his ears.

She made the promised coffee. It didn't take long for Spencer to grab a hold of enough consciousness to stumble towards his goal, using his nose rather than his eyes to get across her apartment. It would have been more impressive if she hadn't known that he had the floor plan of her apartment memorised so well that he could _literally_ cross it in his sleep.

Kissing her on the cheek first, he then plopped himself on her kitchen chair that had become 'his' and breathed deeply, inhaling as much of the aroma as he could.

"I think it works better if you drink it," she pointed out, amused as always at his morning coffee routine.

He just glared at her before closing his eyes in bliss. Emily rolled her eyes and took a long swig of her own coffee, delightfully free of his sugary concoction.

His little ritual complete (which involved another sniff and then a swill around the cup accompanied by a loud yawn) Spencer finally took a tentative sip of his coffee. Almost like he was mistrustful of it. Or confused. Those expressions were almost identical on him this early in the morning

Satisfied that it was actually coffee and not something he dreamt up (that had been a distressing dream), he took a proper swig. He gave her a grateful, sleepy smile.

Spencer really did look adorable fresh out of bed. His eyes were bleary (she would need to check where his contacts were) and hair all mussed up, defying gravity. He was also barefoot, with skinny ankles showing due to the slightly-too-short pyjama pants.

When on earth had a sleepy Spencer Reid become a well-known entity in her apartment? Even Sergio seemed satisfied at this arrangement despite Spencer accidentally stepping on his poor tail four times in his blind, tired stumbles every morning. He hadn't even hissed at the man.

Emily watched fondly as Spencer's head dipped and jerked back up again as he fought sleep. Shaking her head, she got up to grab some cereal.

He'll be okay in about thirty seconds when the caffeine or sugar kicked in.


	4. 4th Feb: Clothing Swap

"Guys why do I have to do this again?" complained Reid, tone veering very close to a whine and looking very uncomfortable with the situation.

Garcia and JJ were ginning predatorily at him. That was never a good sign. Hotch and Emily had nothing on how scary these two could be. The last time they, Reid shuddered, well, he just didn't let his mind go there, ok? Stupid eidetic memory.

"I have to do this too," Emily pointed out, looking far to amused than necessary for her statement to be consoling.

"Hmpf." He pouted.

Normally that got a sympathetic look from JJ. He glanced at her. She was still wearing that smile. No dice. Reid tried not to groan.

"What's your problem?" Emily demanded.

"I think this is some form of inappropriate behaviour," Reid tried as the two blondes rummaged through the two big shopping bags Garcia had brought into work with her.

Emily, apparently deciding that the best route was to go along with it, shrugged off her sweater (it was that lovely shade of red that brought out her eyes).

"How so?" she asked, voice muffled by sleek wool. Her head came free of the neck, "We aren't _actually _swapping clothes."

"Coercion then," he said stubbornly, refusing to even take one layer off.

Though it was quite warm in Garcia's 'lair'. He wouldn't put it past her to turn off the air con just to make them go through with this ridiculous plan. Why she thought it would be 'cute' to see Emily and him wearing the other's style it was beyond him. Emily looked stunning as she was and _he _was quite comfortable with his own clothes, thank you very much.

"Uh huh," Emily said disbelievingly and motioned her hands towards him. "Come on."

"What?"

"Let's get it over with."

Reid looked around the room. JJ was finishing up setting all the clothes out (why were there so many?) and Garcia was eyeing the two of them hungrily. He gulped audibly, feeling his Adam's apple bob.

"Are we both changing in here?" he asked hesitantly.

"Don't be a prude," Emily scolded before Garcia could. "We change around each other all the time."

That was true.

"And I'd be slightly concerned if you couldn't change in front of your girlfriend," JJ pointed out.

"And you're keeping your underwear on," Garcia added. "Although…"

JJ thankfully clapped her hand over the colourful woman's mouth. Everyone looked relieved, they did _not _need their minds to go there.

He sighed again, why did everyone have to talk sense? It wasn't like he was ashamed of his body or anything (except the puncture marks on the inside of his arms but that was a whole different story). He just didn't want to do this.

"You could get changed in the restrooms," said Emily. "But then you'd have to walk all the way back here…"

Reid was quickly undoing his belt. Nope, not happening. The three women grinned at each other. He lay claim to Garcia's chair to shuck his pants off. Folding them neatly over the back of it he turned to JJ, hand outstretched.

"Not stripping off completely?" Garcia asked, sounding disappointed. He gave her a look.

JJ snorted and passed him some very shiny looking pants. He rubbed them between his fingers.

"Are these leather?"

"Pleather," JJ corrected him with a grin.

Closing his eyes and praying to whatever greater power was up there, Reid started to struggle to pull them on, resolutely not looking at his girlfriend who had no shame whatsoever and had just stripped down to her underwear. He could feel her gaze on his butt as he bent over.

After taking far to long to put on a pair of pants he reached for the rest of his outfit. He was never going to live this down. Unfortunately, he was dressed before Emily. He couldn't even use her as a shield.

"Oh, let me look at you!" squealed Garcia, Emily looked up from buttoning her white blouse. "You, keep getting dressed." Garcia ordered her.

"No pictures," Reid warned her.

Garcia pouted.

"No."

Thankfully, she put the camera down. Unfortunately, that gave her hand plenty of opportunity to poke and prod at him. He flinched away from a particularly hard jab at his ribs. These damn pants were too tight.

JJ was gaping at him. He didn't know what that meant. Did he look ridiculous?

"You look hot, baby genius," announced Garcia, eyes roving up and down.

Nodding in agreement, JJ commented, "You should wear collarless shirts more often."

This was just making him feel uncomfortable. He felt kind of naked without a tie and this _thing _around his neck was choking him. There was a _reason _he wore his ties crooked.

"Was the collar really necessary, I don't recall Emily ever-"

Garcia flapped her arms at him, "Of course it's necessary. How else would we get you looking all goth-y?"

"If only you would let us spike your hair…" JJ said wistfully.

He back away, bumping into Emily. Not the hair.

There was a gasp from behind him Spinning around to apologise to his girlfriend, the apology died in his throat.

She was looking _hungrily _at him. Like she wanted to tear off his clothes and actually eat him. That was ever so slightly terrifying but a hell of a turn on. Reid took that as permission to leer at her (ahem, analyse her appearance). He gulped.

The form fitting, knee length brown skirt looked fantastic on her. It cupped all the right places and made her legs, look fantastic. Which were also helped by chunky looking ankle boots. Her white blouse was untucked and a tie (was that actually one of his? How?) was knotted untidily around her elegant neck. It was topped off by a thin cardigan that actually looked like it came from this century and square "hipster" glasses were perched on her nose.

"Like what you see?" she asked sultrily.

He nodded weakly, unable to form words.

"Prove it," she breathed.

Obediently, Reid leaned in for a kiss. The glasses bumped into his nose. They were too big.

"Reid barely uses his glasses anymore," Emily complained, taking them off only to have her hand slapped away by JJ.

"It makes you look hot," the slim blonde scolded.

Reid personally thought that the glasses made no difference to how hot she looked. Now, _his _current attire on the other hand…

"The black waistcoat was a nice touch," commented Emily, not taking her eyes off him.

"Does it not make me look vampire-ish?" Reid asked, only to get chuckles.

"Well, Emily is practically one," JJ teased.

Emily was still too busy admiring her boyfriend to even make a rude gesture.

Reid looked at himself in the mirror that Garcia had smuggled in. He supposed he should be glad the outfit didn't have too many components to it. The red shirt did look nice, though this colour looked far better on Emily with her raven locks. He refused to even contemplate the horrible pants but the smart shoes were acceptable although they reminded him of the ones he wore to funerals. He tried to tame his hair to no avail and straightened the waistcoat.

He supposed he looked acceptable.

He felt a palm on his butt. Maybe more than acceptable.


	5. 5th Feb: Cuddling

Reid inhaled deeply. He loved that smell.

"You are such a weirdo," said Emily from in front of him.

"It's right there," Reid protested with a grin and tightened his arms around her, taking another deep sniff of her hair.

She wiggled and leaned further into him. He was surprisingly comfortable. Emily still expected a lot of angles.

"I swear you have some sort of hair fetish…" she teased him, mouth twisting into a grin.

"It's not compulsive!"

"Uh huh?"

He knew she had her right eyebrow raised at him.

"It smells really nice," Reid defended himself. "And I'm determined to figure out _all _of the scents in it," he added absent-mindedly

Emily rolled her eyes, trust Spencer.

"Just hug me, you doof." She ordered, smiling happily as he complied.

"That's not even a word," he complained with a smile and kissed the side of her neck.

It was the exact spot that made her shiver. He felt her body respond. Yep, every time.

Emily just loved the fact that she could properly be the 'little spoon' in all cuddling arrangements. Prentisses tended to grow tall and Emily was no exception. Most of her boyfriends had been either the same height or slightly shorter. Not exactly optimal for proper cuddling in Emily's opinion.

Now with Spencer, her lovable, gangly boyfriend, she could tuck herself into him and do her weird curled up, twisty thing with her body and he would still wrap himself around her. He didn't even complain!

To be fair, cuddling with Reid involved him folding his body in a way that _definitely _looked downright uncomfortable. Whenever she brought this up, out of concern for his back, he was utterly clueless. That was honestly comfortable for him.

They definitely looked weird all tangled together. JJ once commented that they looked like they were trying to do a complicated couples yoga pose. Emily sincerely doubted that any yoga pose would involve the current placement of Reid's crotch. Heh.

Reid extended his neck to kiss her on the head and snuggled into the corner of her couch. Emily's head slipped down so it was resting over his heart. It was very reassuring to listen to.

'Thumpa, thumpa, thump'

Reid was lazily tracing patterns on hr legs. The man really couldn't remain still for long. At least his legs weren't twitching this time.

"We should probably rewind the movie," Reid absentmindedly commented, glancing at the TV.

Emily wrinkled her nose. They had missed a good part of the start when they were rearranging themselves.

"Told you we shouldn't have hit play until we were comfortable," she said.

Reid smiled down at his oddly positioned girlfriend and snorted. It was her fault they didn't quickly settle into a comfortable position. She always started off any cuddling by laying flat against the, only to twist her torso into him, not moving her hips, and doing a weird folded thing with her legs that was sort of like a badly performed lotus position. And, of course, she couldn't do this all at once. It was accompanied by shuffling and pointed elbows and the odd headbutt.

Not that Reid was complaining. He loved the whole process as each step made her cuddle closer to him. He was always amazed that he actually enjoyed her closeness.

In fact, he wanted her closer. With gentle tug, Reid lifted her slightly so she was half on his lap rather than leaning into him. He wrapped his arms so that hey touched as much of her as possible, outlining the weird shape she made.

He took another deep breath of her hair and buried his face in it.

Emily rolled her eyes fondly and closed her eyes.

This was perfect.


	6. 6th Feb: Being Nervous

She was biting her nails again. Spencer tried not to shudder. The _bacteria_. She had actually got to the point of peeling skin from around her nails.

A bead of blood trickled down the length of her thumb. It didn't seem to stop the gnawing. He tugged her hand away from her mouth. Emily blinked and looked up at him, coming out of her daze.

"Stop that," Spencer semi scolded, intertwining their fingers together to stop her compulsive chewing, trying to hide a wince as he felt her salvia on his hands.

"I can't help it," she replied tartly, trying to tug her hand from his. "It's called a compulsive habit for a reason.

He ignored her tone, it wasn't really directed at him.

She put her other hand in her mouth but Spencer grabbed that one too. Pulling her hands so they were in front of her, he squeezed them in reassurance. She looked up at him, eyes uncertain.

"Calm down," he said soothingly, rubbing circles on the back of her hands. They were very tense.

"I can't," she hissed in annoyance, preferring some form of anger to her nerves. But she didn't move her hands.

Pulling her close so that their foreheads were nearly touching, she wouldn't get distracted this way, he said firmly, "It's out of your hands now, you've done all you can."

"But I could have-"

"You've done your best and it was fine."

"I should have given it another week…"

Emily glanced at the phone, biting her lip.

"And work yourself into a frenzy?"

"I could have made it better…."

He gave her fond smile.

"It was fine. Perfect in fact."

"Your biased," she pointed out, a smile briefly appearing on her face.

Rolling his eyes, Spencer gave her hug. Her shoulders were tense, and not in the fight or flight way that he was used to seeing at work. Her muscles twisted under her skin, constantly moving. He would have to give her a massage later, that would relax her hopefully.

She bit her lip harder.

"Don't," he said, touching her lips (the last time he had tugged her lips free of her teeth he had gotten a bite).

Frowning and going cross-eyed in her attempt to look at his fingers, Emily pursed her lips but did as she was told. She had to bite _something_.

Would the phone ever ring?

Cursing people who didn't use email Emily stood up from her couch, agitated. She almost brought her hand to her mouth again but stopped herself after receiving a glare from Spencer. Dammit, it was _her _bad habit, not his!

She glared at the phone. Emily didn't know what she wanted it to do. If it rang, it might bring bad news. Not hearing it allowed her to delude herself for a bit longer.

"It could be good news. There's a much better chance of that." Spencer said, also staring at the phone.

"Stop profiling me."

"It's hardly profiling if your thoughts are so obvious."

'Smack'.

"Hey!"

There was something satisfying about a couch cushion smacking someone.

Maybe she shouldn't have included the-

"Stop thinking about it!"

"Easy for you to say, you've done this loads."

Spencer sighed exasperatedly at her. "Exactly. Enough to know that all this," he waved his hand at her, "is unnecessary and not helpful."

She huffed at him and started pacing.

Why did she let Spencer and Hotch talk her into writing a research paper?


	7. 7th Feb: Forehead Kiss

As creepy as it sounded, Emily really liked watching her boyfriend sleep. He was just so innocent looking. Okay, he looked like that when conscious but there was a softness that wasn't present when he was awake.

She propped herself up on her elbow and watched him. Damn, he was good looking. His curls were stuck to the side of his face where there was a bit of scruff. Poking out of the blankets was his mismatched socked feet, he always scrunched the blankets up to his hips. He was tall but he didn't stick out of the bed like some sort of gangly clown

Spencer screwed up his eyes and turned his head towards her. She held her breath, not wanting to wake him. He settled himself, mouth open and snoring ever so slightly.

His face wasn't any less animated when asleep. It was adorable. She was always tempted to touch it but he was sensitive to the slightest touch (she learnt that the hard way on a case well before they started going out).

He nuzzled his face closer to her, nose tickling her bare arm. She yawned widely trying to keep it quiet. She should rely get to sleep, Emily glanced at their alarm, they had to get up in three hours.

Watching Spencer for a few more minutes, Emily pressed a kiss firmly on his forehead and slipped down next to him. He blearily opened his eyes.

"Wha?"he asked, squinting.

She stopped his hands reaching for his glasses.

"Shh," Emily soothed. "It's still night."

"Hm?"

"Sleep,"

His head bobbed as much as it could when lying on a pillow and wrapped his arms around her. Warmth flooded through her. She loved it when he initiated affection like this. It got him another kiss on the forehead.

"Stop it," he whined, weakly batting at her.

"Love you too."


	8. 8th Feb: Morning Routine

Spencer loved mornings. He was next to the most amazing woman in his world and there were so many hours open to learning and doing. It was exciting. He couldn't do any of that un-caffeinated. Coffee. He needed coffee.

Throwing back the heavy covers, careful not to sweep them off Emily, he gently traced the side of Emily's face in awe (she was lying next to _him_) and stumbled out of bed with the grace of a new-born gazelle.

Kitchen. More specifically, the cupboard nearest the sink.

Emily wouldn't let him leave his coffee out, saying that it curbed his intake slightly if he didn't see it. Which was nonsense of course, he _knew _it was there and how to get to it. Of course, that didn't apply to _her _coffee but when he pointed that out she gave him that look that Morgan warned him to avoid in women and promptly shut up.

A more pressing need hit him.

Bathroom first.

* * *

It still annoyed her that three days out of five, she woke up alone. Could the man not just laze about like a normal person?

She snorted. Dr Spencer Reid was definitely not normal.

At least he never flung his half of the covers across the bed, he scrunched them into her so she didn't get a draft. She'd prefer him next to her.

She sniffed the air. He had her coffee brewing as usual.

The room was still dark, Spencer never turned on any lights, so she pressed the button on her clock to make the numbers glow. She still had ten minutes. Emily burrowed herself into her covers.

* * *

He glanced at the wall clock on the kitchen wall. Their alarm should be going off any moment. Spencer was always tempted to set Emily's a little earlier but he decided it wasn't worth hiding from a rampage (if she even got out of bed).

Shuffling the twenty-one papers he picked up from assorted newsagents about twenty minutes ago, he flicked through the headlines. Hmm, that investigation in Maryland seemed to be picking up again.

'Clank'

He put Emily's mug on the counter. He would fill it with her coffee when he heard her go into the bathroom. It would be perfect drinking temperature when she met him in the kitchen.

Sergio curled around his legs, rubbing his cheek on the rough material of his pants. Reid automatically stroked him and let the cat bat at his hands like usual.

Oh, there had been a breakthrough in the Smithsonian…

RRRRIIIIIING

* * *

Urgh, there was _no way _that was ten minutes. Spencer had better not have tampered with her alarm like he had once threatened.

She peeled back her covers, she would do them after she ate if Spencer's OCD didn't get to them first, and nipped into the bathroom. Emily hated the taste of morning breath.

* * *

He watched her enter the kitchen, eyes still filled with sleep but looking amazing even if she wasn't dressed yet. How did she get her hair so sleek looking? His still looked like he hadn't brushed it.

They briefly kissed on the lips and Spencer passed her the warm ambrosia. It was the perfect temperature for drinking. She groaned in pleasure on inhaling its scent.

Knowing there would be no conversation until after the first gulp, he neatly folded each newspaper separately and put them in a neat stack. Emily had trained him out of leaving them scattered all over the place.

* * *

Her boyfriend made the best coffee. He literally had it down to an exact science. She savoured that first mouthful, letting it wake her up, before she reached for the toaster.

This man of hers wouldn't eat in the morning unless she literally waved it in front of his face. Toast made less mess (she shuddered at the memory of the state of the floor after the croissant incident) and this stopped him getting a more-sugar-than-dough muffin on the way to work every morning. How his blood sugars weren't out of whack, she'd never know.

The toast popped.

Liberally spreading jam on it, she poked him with a corner. Spencer looked up from his second to last paper and smiled gratefully at her.

As he munched, she grabbed her cereal, liberally adding milk. Emily looked up at the clock, darn it there wasn't enough time for it to get properly soggy.

* * *

"This jam is delicious," Spencer thought as he watched Emily dart out to get changed.

He sighed heavily and eyed her cereal in disgust. She was going to try and make it soggy this morning. Normally they didn't have time on a work day but she might just do it if she didn't take too long getting changed. Which, she never did to be fair but she had to take long enough so that her cereal was no longer crunchy. It was hard to judge.

Didn't stop the sight of it to turn his stomach slightly.

Distracting himself with a Russian text, he pushed the bowl further away from him.

* * *

Ten minutes later Emily skidded back into the kitchen, ready for work. They'd get their guns out of the safe just before they left.

"You look beautiful," Spencer complimented, eyeing her work attire.

Emily never got tired of hearing that.

She kissed his cheek, making him blush. He was such a sweetheart. Taking her chair opposite him, she smiled into her coffee mug and reached for her cereal.

Dammit she had forgotten the spoon.


	9. 9th Feb: Making a Move

Emily tipped her head up to look him in the eyes from her seated position.

"You making a move on me Dr Reid?" She purred.

Reid gulped, Adam's apple bobbing nervously. He shifted his gaze so he wasn't looking at her.

"Yeah, um. No. Well sort of. Only if you want me to?" He stuttered, hands twisting together.

Her hands reached over to cover his. They automatically stilled. He gulped again.

Emily eyed the nervous agent, her youngest colleague and really good friend who was maybe something more. They had been growing close the past few months. More movie nights with someone nearly always "having to stay over" and shared dinners. Some dates-that-weren't-dates and exchanging heated looks. And kisses, Emily closed her eyes in remembrance, oh the kisses. Little kisses brushing cheeks, shy ones pressed to foreheads when the other wasn't _quite _asleep and one bold kiss straight on the lips surprisingly initiated by Spencer.

"Never, never mind," he muttered, pulling away from her. Or, tried to.

Grasping his hands tighter, Emily jerked him back.

"Hey," she said gently, pressing a hand to his cheek so he was looking at her properly. "I didn't say no."

"Didn't say yes either," he pointed out quietly, eyes lowered.

Emily shook her head, smiling at him with affection. Reid looked at her hopefully.

"I barely made out what you were saying," Emily responded. "You said it so fast _and _you were stuttering.

He pouted at that and scrunched up his nose. "That's not my fault!"

She raised her eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

Happy they were back on safe bantering grounds, Reid nodded vigorously. "Yep. It's yours."

"How do you figure that out?"

"_You _are the only one who can make me do both at the same time," he informed her matter-of-factly.

A blushed bloomed across her face.

"Really?"

He smiled smugly at her, thinking he had one upped her. She couldn't have that.

"Well?" she demanded.

Now _he _was blushing. Good.

"Yes?" he asked nervously.

"Aren't you going to ask me?"

"I already did," his hands were twisting again.

"Not the way I heard it."

Reid bit his lips and then licked them. She could practically hear him thinking the situation over. He gulped yet again and reached for her hands.

"Would you like to go out to dinner tonight?" he asked hesitantly, eyes unsure.

"Like a date?" Emily asked hopefully.

He took a deep breath and steadied himself. "Yes."

"Tonight?"

Unable to speak, Reid nodded.

Emily's mouth curved into a grin. "You don't give a girl a lot of prep time, do you?"

"Sorry, we can-wait. Was that a yes?" he asked, eyes widening.

She pulled him close into a hug.

"That's a yes, Mr Smooth." She teasingly whispered into his ear.


	10. 10th Feb: Date Night

Emily's eyes widened at the jars along the shelves. There were cobwebs stretched across them and the light reflected in odd colours on the walls. Their footsteps creeped deliciously as they walked across the floorboards.

This. Was. So. Cool.

Spencer bounced back to her, eyes alight with excitement.

"How did it go?" she asked him with a smile.

"The tour guide said they'd fix the script."

"And the 'additions' you suggested?"

Spencer pouted. "They said it would exceed their half hour time limit."

Brushing his ruffled hair out of his eyes she said mockingly "Poor baby."

He stuck his tongue out at her and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers together. She thought it was cute that he liked to do that. He tugged her along into the next room.

"There's a lab in here," he explained as they entered a larger room.

"Wicked." She breathed, eyes taking in all the tubes and vials.

"They're going to follow one of the od experiments later," Reid told, already inspecting the vials. "They're just replicas," he said, disappointed.

"Really?" Emily asked excitedly.

"Yeah, see this stamp?" Reid replied, turning an empty one over.

She slugged him in the arm.

"Owww. What was that for?"

"I was talking about the experiments."

"Oh. Yeah, they're going to do a few walk throughs _and _let one person in the group assist in each one. And yes, I put your name down. For at least two of them."

Emily let out a very Garcia-like squeal and hugged him tight.

He was seriously the best boyfriend ever. What other guy would take her to a replica of an alchemist's house, complete with actual writings of numerous notable alchemists _and _experiments set up. All for a date!

The only date that topped this one was the series of lectures they had attended on Vonnegut. That was actually fascinating _and _she got to correct a lecturer more times than Reid for once!

She ran her hands over an old-fashioned condensing…thing. This was more exciting though. The only thing that could make this better if there were actually brains in those jars by the door.

As if he read her mind, Reid half scolded her, "That would be a health violation, Emily."

She rolled her eyes and kissed him.

He looked shocked as he responded in a kind.

"What was that for?" he asked as she came up for air.

"For being amazing."

"Oh." And he smiled adoringly at her. It was dorky and cute.

She watched the demonstrator drag equipment to the demonstration area.

"Do you think they'll let me try the result on someone?" she asked hopefully.


	11. 11th Feb: Injury

'Click, click, click'

The smell of the hospital was overwhelmingly sharp today. It burned her nasal tract and made her eyes water.

Emily swiped her hand across her sooty face. Tears smearing it like a bad make-up job.

'Click, click, click'

She glanced at the hated double doors. Why wasn't anyone coming out? Didn't they care that she-they were out here waiting? What was taking them so long?

"Stop pacing, Prentiss," sighed Hotch from where he was standing by the receptionist's desk.

"I'm fine," she spat.

"You're not," said and agitated Morgan, pulling her into an uncomfortable plastic chair next to him. "You look crazy."

She glared at him.

"You are crazy," he amended with a shadow of his usual grin crossing his face. Before he got back to staring intently at the doors.

Garcia was on his other side, buried into him with tear stained eyes. JJ was across from her, head in her hands sporting a bandage from were she had caught the butt of a gun.

"He's going to be ok. The kid's tough," said Rossi, sounding like he was trying to convince himself.

"Why the hell did he not wait for one of us?" Emily hissed, as soon as that idiotic genius of hers was conscious she was going to knock him out again.

"We all though Baker was harmless, we just needed some information from him," Hotch responded tiredly.

Emily snorted. "And wen has _that _sort of scenario gone well from him?"

JJ flinched, Emily sent her an apologetic look. Rossi eyed them both curiously.

"Emily Prentiss?" a nurse called out, where had she come from?

"Here," her voice quavered, scrambling to her feet.

"Nurse Hopkins," the blonde-haired nurse introduced herself, Emily shook her hand. "I'll be caring for Doctor Reid. He's conscious," A sigh of relief ran around all of them, "Right this way."

With hesitant steps Emily followed her, looking back over her shoulder. Her team looked on encouragingly, all of them on the edge of their seats. They came to a stop outside what she assumed to be Spencer's room.

Nurse Hopkins pulled out a chart.

"He's conscious but still slightly delirious," she warned Emily. "He keeps on rambling about papers and something about micro-expressions?"

Emily couldn't help it. She laughed. The nurse looked at her worriedly.

"He's always like that," she explained waving her hands.

Nurse Hopkins nodded and made a note on his chart.

"I see, well he's slurring his words, but that's to be expected with his head injury and the medication required for the damage to his torso…"

"No narcotics?" asked Emily…

"No narcotics," the nurse verified. "It turned out they weren't actually needed after all."

Emily nodded, sighing in relief.

"It looks as bad as it sounds," she warned Emily, opening the door. "Do not let him get worked up."

Nodding in acceptance, Emily darted through the door. She stopped abruptly at the foot of Spencer's bed in shock. There was not an inch of his face that wasn't covered in bruises or blossoming bruises. His left eye was swollen up and his nose was bloody, some blood still dripping on the bedsheet. She could see bandages wrapped around his knuckles and his waist was an odd, bulky shape, probably from even more bandages there.

She stared.

Spencer had been watching her and chuckled weakly which quickly turned into a hacking cough.

Emily ran over to the table next to him and poured him a glass of water from the provided jug. She sat on the corner of his bed and brought the glass to his lips. He tried to hold it himself but couldn't get a grip thanks to how his hands were bandaged, that and she glared at him.

"No strenuous activities," she scolded as he lapped up the water eagerly.

He glared at her, hers was more impressive so he backed down.

"I'm ok," he said gently as if he was talking to a skittish cat.

"You're _not_." She whispered back, voice wavering.

They stared at each other in silence.

"Oh, Emily," he breathed, opening his arms.

She flung herself into them only to back away quickly when he flinched violently with a pained gasp.

"Stomach!" he wheezed doubling over.

I'm so sorry!" she said, eyes wide and hands covering her open mouth.

Once he regained his breath he laughed. She glared. It wasn't funny! He was already injured enough, she could have seriously damaged something.

"Want to try that again?"

This time she eased herself so she was barely leaning on him.

"I'm okay, I'm here," he whispered into her hair reassuringly, pulling her closer.

That broke the dam.

She let her tears fall.


	12. 12th Feb: Hug from Behind

Spencer tugged at the open collar of his shirt. He felt uncomfortable and almost indecent. Emily slapped away his hands.

"Stop that," she scolded.

"Why do I have to have my shirt unbuttoned?" he whined.

Emily tutted and rolled her eyes.

"It's just the top two buttons."

"Two buttons too many!"

Emily didn't even deign that with a response. This was only meant to be a casual lunch with her mother. Spencer definitely did not need to be in a tie no matter how much he wanted to be. It was even at their flat, so home turf. There should be no awkwardness here for them or nervous tugging of his tie.

"I want to make a good impression!" he explained, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"You don't need a tie for that!"

Ok, maybe she was also feeling a bit on edge. It was her mother and this was Spencer. They were the least normal people Emily knew and that even included Garcia.

Spencer looked dolefully at her.

"Oh, go get a tie!" Emily said in exasperation, throwing her hands in the air.

Damn those eyes of his.

Spencer beamed at her and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before rushing into their bedroom.

_Their_. That was such a lovely word. She was still getting used to it. They had only moved in officially together two weeks ago. Hence, her mother's visit.

Emily smiled fondly as she heard him rummage through his tie rack thing.

'Knock, knock.'

She quickly turned towards the door, Spencer's head poked out of their room with a tie half over his head.

That was her.

Taking a deep breath, Emily reached for the door handle. She glanced back at Spencer and frowned.

"Get that tie on!" she hissed.

Spencer yelped and quickly tugged it down.

"Come over here!" she hissed, swinging the door open and saying cheerfully, "Mother!"

"Emily," Elizabeth stated, looking critically up and down at her. "Your looking well and rested for a change."

"Only consults the past few days," Emily explained, leaning in for her hug.

She breathed in her mother's comforting scent. It still soothed her.

"I hope you used the time to catch up on your sleep and get a proper meal," Elizabeth lectured, entering their apartment and closing the door behind her with a 'snap'.

"Yes, mother," Emily retorted with an eye roll.

Elizabeth ignored her with decades of experience.

"Nice to see you again, Dr Reid," Elizabeth greeted as she took off her coat and held out her hand.

Spencer awkwardly cleared his throat and grabbed her coat.

"Spencer," he corrected.

Elizabeth nodded and thankfully didn't look insulted at Spencer's failure to shake her hand. She must have remembered Emily telling her that he didn't. She watched Spencer curiously as he placed her coat in the cupboard.

Emily just knew Spencer could feel her mother's stare, the muscles in his back stiffed and his fingers were doing that thing where they wanted to fidget but he was actively stopping them.

Oh boy.

(-)

They actually spent a very comfortable few hours together, chatting about Emily and Spencer's work, Elizabeth's recent travels and even the current research Spencer was doing. Everyone was relaxed and enjoying themselves.

Elizabeth looked at the clock ad delicately stretched.

"I must head on, Emily. I have a meeting with the Ambassador to Turkey tomorrow morning and we had a problem with the meeting room earlier.

Emily nodded at stood up to give her mother a hug. It was fun to just sit, chat and wind each other up but duty called. Emily and Spencer knew all about that.

"We should do this again," said Reid, arms full of his papers (he really needed to organise those).

Elizabeth nodded and eyed him. Surprising everyone, she leaned forward a pressed a kiss on his cheek.

"Most definitely. You must inform me when that paper has been accepted, Spencer," she said, putting on her coat and standing by the door.

Unsurprisingly there was already a cab there.

Emily opened the door to see her mother off. Reid hastily shoved his papers behind the potted plant (Emily hoped Sergio wouldn't get to them later) and darted forwards to give Elizabeth a very brief hug. Too brief to even be awkward.

"Don't let my daughter get into too much trouble," Elizabeth instructed him with a smile and then swept imperiously to the cab.

Emily gaped after her mother.

The car door clicked shut and the two agents automatically waved as it drove off.

She turned to look at Spencer.

"She didn't just approve of you. She _likes_ you."


	13. 13th Feb: Watching a Horror Movie

Reid made an agitated sound and threw popcorn at the screen.

"That's not even realistic!" he shouted at the staggering figures.

Emily laughed and tugged the popcorn bowl away from them.

"Spencer!" she complained, still giggling.

He turned to pout at her, "You know that's not how slash wounds look and act."

"Oh, I know," she reassured him and hugged the popcorn bowl closer to her. "I was rescuing the popcorn. That's good stuff, Brain-boy."

"Ah, good call," Reid agreed and frowned at the screen again. "Oh, come on!" he complained.

Emily rolled her eyes and smiled at him. Watching bad horror movies was such an experience with Spencer. He pulled faces, threw things at the screen and yelled facts when it all got too much for him (which admittedly wasn't that long).

He was such a weirdo. Her weirdo.

Not that she could really say anything. She loved watching bad horror movies because she found them hilarious in a twisted, garish sort of way. The dramatic ways all the victims died and the overdone, cliched characters of the unsubs.

Dammit Reid had actually managed to get her to call the antagonists in movies unsubs.

'Thunk'

He'd actually thrown a cushion at the screen.

"Spencer!"

"Emily, that girl should not have fallen to the side like that. That weapon should have-"

She quickly pressed a kiss to his lips to shut him up.

"Mmmf."

Replacing her lips with a finger she gave him a look.

"Stop wrecking our cosy corner," she scolded.

"But-"

"Limit your projectiles that disgusting leftover Halloween candy."

"So, I can still throw it at the screen?" he checked.

"Of course."

Music suddenly played. They both checked the screen.

"Aw," Reid said disappointedly. "We missed the ending."

"It was the worst part," Emily agreed.

Reid awkwardly lunched for the stack of DVDs they were binging though (organised by sub-genre and terribleness of the special effects, obviously).

"Only one thing for it," he said, grabbing the top one.

"Another movie," the said in unison, grinning at each other.

"I'll get more popcorn," said Emily scrambling to her feet. "That is _only _for eating."

Rid nodded absentmindedly, already ripping open the previously mentioned disgusting candy. He rolled a piece between his fingers.

"This is perfect," he announced.


	14. 14th Feb: Valentine's Day

They both stared in dismay at the charred remains that blackened the pan. It had just been rescued from the oven.

Spencer coughed and waved away the smoke. How did so much smoke come from such a small piece of food.

"I'm sorry, Spencer," moaned Emily, staring at the _thing _in disappointment.

"It wasn't your fault," he said dolefully, rubbing his nose.

"I was meant to be sorting dinner," said Emily, poking the lump of what he hoped was meat.

He tugged her arm away from it. He wasn't entirely convinced it wouldn't explode. That, and it was sticky. They did not need any of _that _spreading outside of the kitchen. Actually, he would prefer it if it didn't migrate from the oven.

"It's technically my fault," Spencer pointed out. "I _did _distract you."

It was supposed to be a romantic move. That's what boyfriends did to their girlfriends. Especially on St. Valentine's Day. Not that Spencer believed that just having one day dedicated to romantic love was a good idea. Also, he just really liked kissing Emily all over and Valentine's Day was as good an excuse as any. All he did was creep up behind her to kiss what ever bit of exposed skin she had. He was actually successful at the creeping and everything!

Maybe too good.

In his mis-matched socked feet he had planted a kiss on the nape of her neck. It was a _very _sensitive part of her anatomy. Make that extremely. Or maybe he just shouldn't do surprise kisses. Either way Emily had shrieked and elbowed him, causing him to stumble back into the little table Spencer had pedantically arranged; white tablecloth, matching glasses of red wine and a few mismatched candles (neither of them like those overdone log white ones).

The wine had gone everywhere and the, thankfully still unlit, candles had rolled to the floor. Not that they had noticed at first. Emily had pounced on him and her lips refused to leave his until theory noticed smoke trickling out around the edges of the oven door.

Which brought them back to their current scene.

"Both our faults?" Emily suggested, sweeping the whole mess into the bin, that pan was unrecoverable.

Reid nodded rapidly in agreement. No need to assign blame.

Both of their stomachs rumbled.

"What are we going to about food? We agreed that going out on Valentine's day was stupid and way too corny." Said Reid, rubbing his stomach. They wouldn't be able to get in anywhere anyway.

Emily grinned at him, thankfully not a terrifying one, and reached for the phone.

"I know this really great pizza place…."

"It delivers?" Rid asked hopefully, he knew exactly which one she was talking about and it was delicious.

"Oh yeah. Your usual?"

"Please!"

While she was ordering, Reid swept the broken and crunched glass up and mopped the floor. How on earth did the wine spread to the fridge?

He heard the click of the phone being put down. Emily had surprisingly lost her top between the living room and the kitchen. He took in every inch of bare skin highlighted by the red, lacey bra.

"It's going to be at least thirty minutes," she informed him sultrily. "Got any ideas for entertainment."

"Several," he said quickly, fumbling with his tie. "All doable in that time."


	15. 15th Feb: Holding Hands

Spencer Reid never thought himself to be a touchy-feeling person. In fact, he had always been the opposite. He was renowned for not shaking hands and jumped at unexpected contact. He didn't even really initiate contact that much, not even within the team.

But with Emily, well, Emily was different. It wasn't that he suddenly became a cuddler. Spencer doubted that he ever would be but he enjoyed touching her; her face, her hands, her body. There was something sensuous yet soft about and it intoxicated him.

She was still the one who initiated most hugs and touches, that was to be expected. Emily was definitely more bold than him and he spent far too long overthinking and overanalysing everything.

There was one thing he always initiated, to the point that it was almost compulsive behaviour. He found that he really, really enjoyed holding hands with Emily. He unconsciously reached for her whenever they were close and Spencer even found that he did it when she wasn't even in the same town as him. His body just automatically tries to find her.

She had teased him something rotten about it but never protested Spencer had noted, never pulled her hand away. Even though he couldn't keep his hands still even with her holding them. He fidgeted, traced his fingers over her knuckles, tapped morse code onto her palms and swung their arms. Not one complaint from her.

There was something about the smoothness of her skin, only interrupted by the gun callouses that he loved so much, and the way their fingers intertwined. Spencer loved how the simple act of holding hands brought them closer together physically.

You could communicate so much by holding hands. A gentle squeeze, a tender touch or a frantic grip. So many emotions could be conveyed without speaking or even eye contact. It didn't matter that his fingers were long and that hers were intermittently chewed on.

He slipped his fingers into hers, no one at the metro station paying them any attention. Emily squeezed them briefly and smiled at him.

If only he could never let go.


	16. 16th Feb: Unrequited Love

Emily sighed. A strand of hair tickled her nose, she brushed it irritably away annoyed that it was distracting her. She glanced across the bullpen again.

"This shouldn't bother you," Emily scolded herself.

But it did Oh boy, it did. Should she sneak another glance? Had he noticed the first three? One more wouldn't hurt, surely?

Spencer was talking animatedly on the phone to someone. A lady someone according to Morgan. Not that that meant it was true, the man did enjoy teasing their genius a little bit too much. It could have been a man with a higher voice than normal or even an informant of some sort.

He threw his head back and laughed. Like, a full-on laugh were his eyes screwed up and his face smoothed out. She certainly didn't see that often.

She rested her head on her hand, hoping she looked bored. Emily wondered if Spencer knew how attractive he looked. His strong jaw and glowing eyes. Even that rats-nest of a hair.

He was whispering into the phone now. A pang shot through her heart. She shook her head. She was being ridiculous.

Or was she? Was it wrong to want him to smile at her like that? Laugh with her?

Yes! No? . . . Maybe?

Urgh. Emotions were hard. Her emotions? They were even harder. She didn't like them very much at the moment. Especially that squishy feeling she got every time the light caught his glossy hair. Argh.

"I'll see you Saturday," she heard clearly from him and then he muttered something. Was it a sweet nothing?

This was getting ridiculous. He obviously didn't feel-

"Hi, Emily?"

Emily almost fell off her chair in shock. Where had he come from?

"What the hell, Spe-Reid!" she spluttered, resisting the urge to clutch at her heart.

He cocked his head to one side and looked at her with those big brown eyes of his. Must resist, must resist.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, peering down at her.

Waving her hand dismissively, Emily replied, "I'm good!"

He gave her a look.

"Seriously."

That seemed to satisfy him. Dammit even Hotch's looks weren't that intense.

Spencer gave her one last searching look and nodded.

"Okay." He said, nodding.

Should she ask him about his phone call? Would it be too intrusive? Everyone knew how private he was. But, did he expect them to be nosey? Emily bit her lip. Well, it would be just her being nosey. No one else saw or heard the phone call. She couldn't even use Morgan or Garcia as an excuse. But if it was a girlfriend?

"Reid-" she began.

"Hey! Pretty boy!" called Morgan.

Darn Derek Morgan.

Rolling his eyes at Emily, making her have to hide a giggle, he called back exasperatedly, "What?"

"Get your skinny ass over here!"

Ignoring their teammate, Spencer looked at Emily.

"What were you saying?" he asked.

Maybe this was a sign that she needed to butt out. She shook her head at him.

"Go to Morgan."

"I was taking with you first," he pointed out.

"It's not important," she said flippantly, another pang shooting through her. "Really," she added at Spencer's suspicious look.

_Liar, liar, pants on fire_.

"Go!" she said, giving him a light shove.

He gave her a confused look but obeyed, scampering across the bullpen.

Completely oblivious.


	17. 17th Feb: Childhood Friends AU

"Hi, I'm Emily. It's-very-nice-to-meet-you," Emily garbled to a dolly, just like her mother had shown her.

"I don't think your meant to say it like that," said a voice from behind her.

Eight-year-old Emily spun round to face her best friend, seven-year-old Spencer Reid, hands on hips. Spencer shrunk back slightly.

"How would _you_ know?" she demanded, eyes flashing.

Ignoring her tone, Spencer strode up to her doll and frowned at it. Emily fidgeted next to him, still with a pout on her face.

"Adults are taller," he finally announced, poking Miss Jenny.

Emily batted his hands away. "Don't do that!" she scolded, straightening the doll's clothes (even though Spencer hadn't messed them up). _Boys_.

"Also, they'd hold your hand back. Dolls-" Emily glared at him, "-Miss Jenny," he corrected, "doesn't _do_ anything back."

"She does so!" Emily said vehemently, stomping her foot for good measure.

"No, she doesn't, dolls don't move!" Spencer argued.

"Miss Jenny does!" Emily said stubbornly. "She did when I was talking to her there now."

"Nuh uh!"

"She did!"

"What did she do?" Spencer asked disbelievingly.

"She, she shook my hand back!" Emily replied triumphantly.

Spencer gasped, "Really?"

Emily nodded rapidly, black hair going every-which-way. "Of course, it's only polite," she said snootily, nose in the air.

Spencer gave her a look, she pulled a face back at him.

"Can we get back to our re-enactment?" Spencer pleaded, glancing over at the abandoned Barbies in the middle of Emily's playroom floor.

"Battle."

"What?"

Emily sighed and rolled her eyes. Did she have to be the only smart one around here?

"It's a battle, Spencer."

He gave her a confused look (see? Not smart!) and retorted, "It isn't!"

"Of course it is, people are being killed."

"That doesn't make it a battle." Spencer cried, pulling at his hair.

"It's the _French Revolution, _Spencer. That means battle. We looked it up, remember?"

"What's going on here?" came a decidedly adult voice from above them.

Both children froze and looked up to see Elizabeth Prentiss.

"Mother!" shouted Emily, running to hug her.

Elizabeth held her daughter close and smiled at the shy little boy who was edging to the side of the room.

She saw the mess of dolls she saw earlier still in the middle of the room. They had now added a box, liberally coloured with red pen. But Emily's favourite doll, Jenny seemed out of place with her stripy dress, standing much taller than any Barbie.

"I was practising manners," Emily explained seriously, noticing her mother's look.

"Oh?" Elizabeth stated, smiling fondly at her odd daughter. She looked over at Spencer, "Is she any good, Spencer?"

Spencer shifted his feet and gulped at the two Prentiss females staring at him, well, Emily was glaring at him and trying to nod subtly. Elizabeth stilled her head and gave her a pointed look.

"Um, yes?" he said, trying the safe answer.

That got him a beaming smile from Emily. He sighed in relief. Elizabeth beckoned him over to ruffle his permanently messy hair. Spencer resisted the urge to bat her hand away. Only Emily could do that.

"Why were you practising manners?" asked Elizabeth curiously.

"We were talking about the French upper class and how they acted," began Spencer.

"It was why people hated them," interrupted Emily. "We read about it."

Well, Spencer had read about it. But _she _had found all the cool pictures.

"And I didn't understand what the book meant by 'proper behaviour'," continued Spencer smoothly, used to Emily interrupting him.

"And _I _said I could show him," bragged Emily.

"French upper class?" Elizabeth repeated the oddest phrase she heard.

Both children nodded.

"Are you playing French Revolution again?" she asked, frowning slightly at them. She had had to stop them doing that after the incident with the butcher's knife…Her poor housekeeper _still _couldn't enter the kitchen.

"Ummm," stuttered Spencer.

"Will you play with us, mother?" Emily pleaded, tugging at Elizabeth's trousers. "You'll keep us out of trouble," she added slyly, knowing what her mother was thinking.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes but smiled and nodded, pushing Emily aside so she could sit properly on the floor.

"Yay!" the best friends cheered.

"Please tell me that some of your dolls still have heads," Elizabeth asked pleadingly.

"It wouldn't be the French Revolution that way," Emily said with a pout. "They used a gee-gill-gillota-"

"Guillotine," helped Spencer, pronunciation horrible.

"Guillotine," Elizabeth corrected with the proper French inflection.

Emily waved her hands dismissively and crouched over the cardboard box, which Elizabeth realised was their execution stage, and said "Yeah, that. They used it to take people's heads off!"

"It was meant to be socially equalising," Spencer informed her.

"And there was lots of blood!" Emily added excitedly.

Elizabeth gave her a look.

"It's true!" her daughter said defensively. "Spencer said so!"

Spencer nodded in agreement, "It's the artery-"


	18. 18th Feb: Surprise Visit

He had to be sneaky about this. No one should notice him, he should blend into walls if possible. Keep his head down low and no bumping into anyone.

"ID please," asked the security guard.

Card at the ready, Reid showed the uniformed man his government ID. He was waved forward with a grunt.

This is where it gets more difficult. There were people who could recognise him here. Reid forced himself to walk normally, even though there were bends and corners here that were _perfect _for ducking around. Yeah, he really shouldn't be put on any sort of covert operation.

He could see his goal now. He was right in the heart of the building. People were bustling around him, looking important and busy, and computer screens were flashing. The unfamiliar accents jarred him a bit but didn't distract him.

Which was good, he couldn't afford to be distracted at this stage, it was the most difficult part of this whole journey. Well, maybe except keeping this from Garcia…Reid loved her but the woman could not keep a secret.

She wasn't looking over the office, good. It looked like she was on the phone, not a pleasant call either if the positioning of her shoulders said anything (which they did). There was still a chance she could turn around though. He slunk over to the outer edges, deliberately slipping in between groups of people.

A few of them greeted him pleasantly, recognising him from previous visits. A much nicer welcome than what he usually got when visiting offices or precincts. It was almost too weird to be happily welcomed.

The stairs were just a few feet away, or should he say metres now? This is where it could al fall completely apart. His steps would sound different on the stairs and she was far too aware of her surroundings to _not _pick it up.

Fortunately, Reid knew how to walk almost silently. It was a matter of weight distribution. And patience. A lot of patience.

Did he have everything? Reid patted his shoulder bag to feel the bulge of her favourite coffee and gave the plastic bag he was carrying a shake. A glorious smell wafted from it. His stomach rumbled.

He deftly climbed the stairs, pausing every so often. Her voice was getting clearer now. She was telling some poor soul off quite soundly in Italian. Oh, he loved that language. A shiver went down his spine.

He'd have to wait. He didn't want to interrupt her work or make her appear _too _unprofessional. They didn't know how weird she really was. He pressed himself into a corner, to wait out the next few uncomfortable minutes.

Finally, he heard the 'click' of a phone being hung up. Now was his chance!

Reid darted swung open the door and darted into her office without knocking.

"Wha-" was all he heard before he exclaimed, "Surprise!"

The dark-haired woman gaped at him wordlessly. Yes, he had actually managed to shock Emily Prentiss.

"Spencer!" she very nearly squealed and flung herself on him.

He hugged her back firmly. Oh, how good it was to feel her again.

Eventually, she released him, still with a grin on her face. She looked endearingly silly. He kissed her briefly on the lips.

She reached out and gently touched his jacket.

"You're really here," she breathed.

Reid looked guiltily at her, "I missed you."

Emily's face softened. "So did I."

They stood there grinning like idiots at each other, just glad to be in each other's presence. Three weeks was just too long.

"I brought coffee," Reid said suddenly, breaking their fond silence.

"Oh, thank God," said Emily, hands outstretched like a child. "Gimme."

Reid snatched his bag back, "Ah, ah, ah."

"Come oooooon," she whined, making grabby motions – his long arms easily held her back.

He really had to learn to resist her eyes better. It was becoming a problem. He eased the jar out of his bag and set it on her desk. Emily actually hugged it too her.

"Drama Queen," he teased. "I'm sure you can find good coffee here. This is _London _for goodness sake."

"Not the same," she pouted at him, unscrewing the jar just to take a big whiff of the contents. "Ahhhhh."

Then she took another sniff. Her eyes narrowed. She carefully put the lid back on and took a deeper sniff. Reid gulped. Emily's stomach rumbled.

"Is that…Chinese?"

"Maybe."

"Oh, please. I haven't eaten since seven this morning!"

Reid frowned and checked his watch. "It's two forty-three."

"Whoops?"

Reid unceremoniously hoisted the takeaway bag onto her desk, careful to avoid her papers which were thankfully stacked.

"Is it from the one around the corner?" she asked hopefully, helping him lift out the containers.

"Of course," he replied, peering in one to check whose meal it was. "That one's yours."

He passed her the chopsticks and fished out the plastic fork her always ensured to get. Emily grinned at him.

Soon they were digging into their lunch. Reid hadn't eaten anything since before his flight.

"I can't believe I didn't see you coming," Emily complained after she had wolfed down half of her meal.

"You're off your game," Reid teased, poking her with his plastic fork.

It was so worth the shove he got.


	19. 19th Feb: Jealousy

Emily refused to be jealous. Nuh uh. Not jealous. Not at all.

Reid laughed loudly.

She would admit to pouting though. Spencer didn't notice. That made her frown. What was the point of pouting if nobody noticed? No even her weirdly, almost obnoxiously, observant boyfriend.

Sergio flicked his tail up Spencer's nose. He pulled a face and rubbed it, Emily knew that that particular move tickled horribly, but laughed. Spencer, who never ever seemed to get on well with animals, actually _laughed _at her cat

Nope. Not jealous.

This was meant to be a movie night. There was popcorn ready and everything! She even got the sweets that Spencer liked throwing at the screen when he got annoyed. She didn't think she'd be cock-blocked (could a woman even _be _cocked blocked?) by her, normally very aloof and sophisticated, cat of all things.

Stupid cat. He wasn't supposed to actually get along with Spencer. Weren't cats meant to be one-person animals? She glared at him, one of her scarier ones. Of course the cat didn't care.

Sergio purred smugly at her from the safety of Spencer's lap. Did she mention that she hated that cat? She should have let Garcia keep him.

"He's so soft," Spencer said in wonder, petting the cat on his lap in awe. Cats rarely got close to him.

Emily sidled into him, pressing against his side.

"He's spoilt," Emily commented, reaching out to lift Sergio.

Only for Spencer to pull him back and Sergio to try and _claw _her. Sergio had never tried to do that before.

"Sergio…" she said warningly, dammit, Reid was hers!

Spencer hugged that damn cat close, "Can't he stay?" he asked pleadingly.

Damn those eyes. Even Sergio turned on the charm and started rubbing the top of his head along Spencer's chin.

"The movie…" she protested.

"He's not doing any harm."

Oh, _sure _he wasn't. Emily knew that glint in Sergio's eyes though. He wouldn't let anyone close to him when he had that look. Well, except Spencer apparently.

What even was the point of watching a movie if they couldn't cuddle together?

Sergio purred.

Emily swore it sounded triumphant.


	20. 20th Feb: Flowers

Emily had a secret. One that the rest of the team couldn't find out. _Especially _Morgan. She had sworn Reid to secrecy when he had found out. He had been tickled when he had discovered them. The weirdo.

Well, technically Garcia also knew as she was the one who fed Sergio when they were gone. Emily did not make the mistake of telling her it was a secret. That would be the quickest way to get it spread about the office

She, Emily Prentiss, liked flowers.

Well, houseplants to be exact but bouquets were nice too. She always felt guilty for having them because of her job. They sometimes went _days_ without water and that was with Garcia's help. The ones in her bedroom always fared the worst.

There was at least one plant (in varying stages of health) in each room. An aloe vera in the kitchen, a geranium in the living area sometimes with a bunch of flowers, an unidentifiable succulent of some sort in the bathroom and a flowering _something_ in her bedroom. She oved each and every one of them even if she didn't really know how to care for them.

She should probably just replace them with cactuses. Cacti. But after the incident with the one she used to have in her bathroom Emily had deemed them too dangerous for her.

Anyway, she loved them and they cheered her up. She had a good system going.

Until Reid.

Oh, that man. That adorable, pedantic, genius man of hers.

It had only taken him one visit to her apartment to find out her secret. Surely having a few flowers around the place wasnt outside of the realm of normal. Was she really that bad at hiding things or? No. Emily refused to entertain the thought of Spencer Reid knowing her better than herself. Nope.

He had pressed her about all her plants and had turned his nose up at her lack of information. Bit by bit he and learned ad then taught her how to look after her plants. Reid had even rigged up some sort of slow release watering mechanism with a plastic bottle. There was something so satisfying about seeing everything getting greener and glossier.

That would have been fine. They both had fun sorting the plants out and flicking dirt at each other but the man didn't know how to leave things be. Reid seemed to take great pride in feeding her flower obsession. Practically every week he got her a fresh bouquet or persuaded her to grow something new. That was why she was now growing chillies in the kitchen.

He took particular delight in giving her flowers. Who would have thought that their socially awkward genius would be such a sap? She did love them and always felt so flattered. Infuriatingly, she always blushed. Emily suspected Spencer was presenting them with more and more of a flourish _just _to make her blush. Curse his magician tendencies.

She fussed over the ones he had given her just last night. He was very particular about replacing a bunch before a previous one wilted. There were gorgeous red and pink carnations alongside amaryllis. They made a really stunning display.

At least in this bunch she could pronounce all the names.


	21. 21st Feb: Meeting the Parents

Spencer tugged at the open collar of his shirt. He felt uncomfortable and almost indecent. Emily slapped away his hands.

"Stop that," she scolded.

"Why do I have to have my shirt unbuttoned?" he whined.

Emily tutted and rolled her eyes.

"It's just the top two buttons."

"Two buttons too many!"

Emily didn't even deign that with a response. This was only meant to be a casual lunch with her mother. Spencer definitely did not need to be in a tie no matter how much he wanted to be. It was even at their flat, so home turf. There should be no awkwardness here for them or nervous tugging of his tie.

"I want to make a good impression!" he explained, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"You don't need a tie for that!"

Ok, maybe she was also feeling a bit on edge. It was her mother and this was Spencer. They were the least normal people Emily knew and that even included Garcia.

Spencer looked dolefully at her.

"Oh, go get a tie!" Emily said in exasperation, throwing her hands in the air.

Damn those eyes of his.

Spencer beamed at her and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before rushing into their bedroom.

_Their_. That was such a lovely word. She was still getting used to it. They had only moved in officially together two weeks ago. Hence, her mother's visit.

Emily smiled fondly as she heard him rummage through his tie rack thing.

'Knock, knock.'

She quickly turned towards the door, Spencer's head poked out of their room with a tie half over his head.

That was her.

Taking a deep breath, Emily reached for the door handle. She glanced back at Spencer and frowned.

"Get that tie on!" she hissed.

Spencer yelped and quickly tugged it down.

"Come over here!" she hissed, swinging the door open and saying cheerfully, "Mother!"

"Emily," Elizabeth stated, looking critically up and down at her. "Your looking well and rested for a change."

"Only consults the past few days," Emily explained, leaning in for her hug.

She breathed in her mother's comforting scent. It still soothed her.

"I hope you used the time to catch up on your sleep and get a proper meal," Elizabeth lectured, entering their apartment and closing the door behind her with a 'snap'.

"Yes, mother," Emily retorted with an eye roll. That ws pot calling the kettle black.

Elizabeth ignored her with decades of experience.

"Nice to see you again, Dr Reid," Elizabeth greeted as she took off her coat and held out her hand.

Spencer awkwardly cleared his throat and grabbed her coat.

"Spencer," he corrected.

Elizabeth nodded and thankfully didn't look insulted at Spencer's failure to shake her hand. She must have remembered Emily telling her that he didn't. She watched Spencer curiously as he placed her coat in the cupboard.

Emily just knew Spencer could feel her mother's stare, the muscles in his back stiffed and his fingers were doing that thing where they wanted to fidget but he was actively stopping them.

Oh boy.

* * *

They actually spent a very comfortable few hours together, chatting about Emily and Spencer's work, Elizabeth's recent travels and even the current research Spencer was doing. Everyone was relaxed and enjoying themselves.

Elizabeth looked at the clock ad delicately stretched.

"I must head on, Emily. I have a meeting with the Ambassador to Turkey tomorrow morning and we had a problem with the meeting room earlier. Someone thought it was for the Cyprus delegation and we really don't need that awkwardness.

Emily nodded at stood up to give her mother a hug. It was fun to just sit, chat and wind each other up but duty called. Emily and Spencer knew all about that.

"We should do this again," said Reid, arms full of his papers (he really needed to organise those).

Elizabeth nodded and eyed him. Surprising everyone, she leaned forward a pressed a kiss on his cheek.

"Most definitely. You must inform me when that paper has been accepted, Spencer," she said, putting on her coat and standing by the door.

Unsurprisingly there was already a cab there.

Emily opened the door to see her mother off. Reid hastily shoved his papers behind the potted plant (Emily hoped Sergio wouldn't get to them later) and darted forwards to give Elizabeth a very brief hug. Too brief to even be awkward.

"Don't let my daughter get into too much trouble," Elizabeth instructed him with a smile and then swept imperiously to the cab.

Emily gaped after her mother.

The car door clicked shut and the two agents automatically waved as it drove off.

She turned to look at Spencer.

"Think she approves," Spencer asked self-consciously.

"She didn't just approve of you. She _likes_ you."


	22. 22nd Feb: Making Out

…**Or five ways Emily and Spencer -ahem- expose themselves.**

Dave wasn't really surprised at what he came across. He was a fantastic profiler, ego aside. They thought they were hiding it so well. Well, he supposed that they were doing rather well on that front considering Aaron hadn't come to complain to him. Or maybe he should be more concerned about his boss...

But, seriously? Did they think they were being subtle? Okay, it was nine o'clock on a Wednesday night. There really shouldn't be anyone here. But they were highly intelligent and skilled people, some of the best he knew…

He looked down from his office at the two currently lip-locked agents in the bullpen. He should probably be shocked that it was Reid and Prentiss but the more Dave thought about it the more they appeared to be suited for each other. The did compliment each other very well and they were the biggest weirdos he had come across and _that _was saying a lot.

The boy-wonder pulled Prentiss closer to him. Their bodies were completely pressed against each other and they were _still _connected at the lips. Dave supposed all that rambling really did something for breath control and he it didn't surprise him that Prentiss had a good lung capacity.

He had personally done worse in the office. This didn't even impress him.

Prentiss groaned as Reid shifted his weight slightly.

Dave closed his blinds with a snap.

Didn't mean he had to watch it.

* * *

'Mmmm,' Emily complained as Spence pulled his lips from hers.

She pouted at him. They weren't done in her opinion.

"I don't want to get run over," Spencer explained.

They _were _in the BAU's car park and half five in the evening for a change (it had bee a slow day). Emily snorted. He didn't care about that this morning.

"Or become a spectacle," he admitted.

That was more like him

"Don't you want to lay claim to me in front of everyone," Emily purred, trailing her finger around his collar.

He squirmed and blushed.

"Not unless I can do it properly," he muttered, looking away from her.

Her eyes narrowed, she didn't think he had it in him.

Emily pressed a firm kiss to his lips and sashayed to her car.

"See you tomorrow," she called, a smirk still in her tone.

Tearing his eyes away from Emily's hips, Spencer turned to the exit. He was getting the train further downtown to pick up something. He had only come down here to spend as much time with Emily as possible. He caught a flash of blonde from the corner of his eyes. Looking up, he met smirking blue eyes.

JJ crossed her arms and gave him that look of hers. Spencer squirmed.

"Uh, hi JJ," he said, feeling a bit awkward, had she seen them?

'Click, click, click.'

"So," his best friend drawled, now uncomfortably close to him. "You and Emily?"

"Yes?" he responded nervously, meeting her eyes. Was she mad?

JJ's eyes softened not mad then, and asked, "How long?"

"Four weeks two days and seventeen hours," he responded automatically.

There was a few beats of silence as JJ mulled over this new information.

"I'm glad," she said. "I thought you two would never get together."

"You knew?" Spencer squeaked, looking shocked.

JJ gave him a sympathetic look.

"I know _you_, Spence."

"Oh." He shuffled his feet nervously and scratched the back of his head. "How, uh, how much did you see?"

The blonde media liaison smirked at him. Oh no.

"Well, when I came down you were pushing Emily down with the force of that kiss…"

Spencer groaned.

"It will make great a great show for whoever is watching the cameras down here," JJ continued.

* * *

Penelope Garcia was just doing her usual end-of-day check on their security cameras. Always good to know everything was working as it should. No one was going to get their hooks into the FBI camera system without _her _knowing.

That, and she was nosey. People did all sort of strange things when they thought no one was around. The office probably needed a talk on being aware of your surroundings. Again.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Hotch had actually left on time, he was picking up Jack from soccer practice today. Spencer and Emily were walking through the cars like they usually did. JJ had left just after them, carrying an awful lot of papers. Penelope was just about to power down her systems when she saw a movement on the second level car park camera.

She blinked rapidly and rubbed her eyes. What? She refreshed her screen. Yep, everything was working ok.

Spencer, their little Spencer Reid, had just jumped on Emily. What was he doing? She leaned closer to the screen. Was he _kissing _Emily Prentiss? Her fingers flew across the keyboard to change the view of the camera to another one on the same level. Yep. Lips were definitely locked there and Emily definitely did not look unhappy about the situation if those mouth movements aid anything

She let out a squeal. This was just perfect!

* * *

Mmmmm

It was so nice to get lost in each other, with nothing to distract them. She had wanted to kiss him all day. Spencer just looked so hot doing that interrogation earlier. Those flashing eyes and jaw set firmly. She had just wanted to run her hands through his wild hair and snog him senseless. To hell with being professionally.

Thankfully common sense had won out in the end and that wasn't exactly how they wanted to out themselves to Hotch.

Hotch definitely took precedence over the common sense.

Common sense that went out the window as soon as they returned to the BAU. Emily had dragged her boyfriend off as soon as she could get away with. She had scoped out this abandoned office a while ago just for this type of illicit meetings.

Spencer was muttering about getting caught but certainly wasn't arguing about what she was doing.

She clutched the front of his cardigan and pulled him towards her. The force their lips connected with each other would probably bruise somewhat but neither cared. Emily just _needed _him and Spencer was not going to give up the opportunity.

Things were getting probably too heated, for even a secret make-out session in work, when they heard loud cursing.

They sprang apart, Emily immediately went for her gun that was thankfully in her desk.

"My eyes! My eyes!" Morgan yelped.

Darn him

* * *

Aaron Hotchner resisted the urge to smack his head off his desk. That would mess up all the papers he currently had on it. He groaned loudly instead.

Why was it always those two that made his life difficult?

He glared at the windows of his office. Why did his have to face the desks in the bullpen? Why couldn't his be slightly off to the side like Rossi's?

They were _still _doing it. Lips against each other's, tongues dancing. Probably. He shuddered slightly. Did Prentiss and Reid have no sense of propriety?

He looked out again. No. No they did not.

Were they doing this on purpose? He always suspected Prentiss enjoyed shocking people but Reid?

Reid's hands disappeared _somewhere_. That's it. This was a _workplace _for crying out loud.

He stomped out of his office.

"You could have just _told _me, you know," he announced loudly to the now sprung apart agents.


	23. 23rd Feb: Vacation

"I don't think this is a good idea at all," said Spencer, fumbling with his hat.

Emily smacked his hands down and grinned at him.

"I thought you were always up for trying new things?" she asked teasingly.

"Only ones that don't involve me _falling to my death._"

She tutted and rolled her eyes, "Stop being dramatic."

Spencer huffed and blew the pom-pom on his hat away. Emily assumed his eyes were scrunched up to match his pouting lips but his goggles were blocking her view somewhat. Probably a good thing, she could rarely resist them both together.

"_Spencer._"

He sighed loudly and uncrossed his arms. He was such a _child_.

"I'm hardly being dramatic when you decided to bring a gangly, uncoordinated, accident-prone person to a _ski village_."

His voice got louder with each word. And more shrill. Emily winced. A grown man really shouldn't be able to get his voice that high.

They were in Canada on a well-deserved vacation. They had wanted somewhere close but with no work connections (which unfortunately left out a lot of the major cities in the US) so Emily decided that she really wanted to teach her boyfriend to ski. It was one of her favourite childhood pastimes with her grandfather in France.

"You'll be fine, Spencer," she told him soothingly. If she just got him down this simple slope, he'd be good. Confidence was half the battle.

"Previous experience says otherwise," he said glumly.

"You've skied before?" Emily asked incredulously.

"No. But with all other physical pursuits I-"

Emily stopped him before he could work himself up by placing her hand over his mouth.

"You agreed to this knowing full well what we were doing." She informed him.

Spencer made some hand motions and nodded rapidly. Oops. Her hand was still over his mouth.

"If I move my hands will you talk and not freak out?"

He nodded.

"Promise?"

He nodded more vigorously.

She was probably going to regret this but she took her hand off his face.

"I don't want to do this."

"You promised you'd try."

"That was before I was about to fall to my death!"

"It's the kiddie slope!"

They watched and handful of no older than eight-year olds ski expertly down the slope.

Spencer crossed his arms and pouted.

"They're closer to the ground," he said sulkily and stomped his foot.

Unfortunately, that gave him enough movement to slip a little. Thinking that he was going to go down the slope, Spencer shrieked and flailed his arms.

'Thud.'

He landed on his butt by her feet. The kids were snickering. She yanked him up with the ease of lots of practice. Time for plan C (Plan B was definitely too X-rated for the current demographics).

"If you go down I'll get you a hot chocolate with whipped cream," she bribed.

He looked at her suspiciously, "_And_ marshmallows?"

Emily gave him a look. He stared right back, eyes wide.

She broke first.

"Fiiiiiiine. And marshmallows."


	24. 24th Feb: Prom AU

Confidant steps strode purposefully across the hallway. Other students darted out of the way in fear. Their goal was right there, totally oblivious to the movement around them. It was cute.

Two more steps and they were right in front of them. A locker door was between them. That was soon taken care of.

'CRASH'

Everyone in the vicinity jumped. That got their attention.

Now or never.

Well, not really. They'd be walking home together later _and _doing homework at one of their houses so there were plenty of other chances. But that wouldn't do. Everyone had to know they were off limits.

They were staring.

Deep breath. She could do this. She was the daughter of an _ambassador _for crying out loud. No one had the right to make her fell this nervous. Especially not over some _dance_. Annoyingly, her heart was still beating fast. One more deep breath. For luck.

"Want to go to the Prom with me?"

Spencer blinked owlishly through his thick framed glasses and stared at his best friend, who actually looked nervous.

"Really?" he asked hopefully.

Emily sighed and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"No, I wanted to bring the locker," she said sarcastically.

Spencer squinted his eyes at her. Knowing her, she could actually be serious about that…

Knowing what he was thinking, she thumped his arm.

"Yes you, you idiot."

Spencer pouted and rubbed his arm.

"You're the only one who calls me an idiot," he complained.

"I'm the only one who knows you," Emily said matter-of-factly.

Looking thoughtful then nodding, "True."

Emily tapped her foot and raised her eyebrow. "So?"

Spencer cocked his head to the side, confused.

"The Prom, Spencer!" she said exasperatedly.

"Oh, of course I will!" he responded happily.

"Perfect!" Emily exclaimed and seized him into a hug.

"Oof."

His arms stuck out at awkward angles. They looked a little bit ridiculous. Emily released him and straightened his sweater.

Spencer suddenly bit his lip and looked questioningly at her.

"What now?" she asked.

"I can't dance," he informed her, looking upset at the thought

Emily waved off his concerns. "That's fine. I'll teach you."

"Teach me to dance?" he asked softly.

Emily's face softened. He was adorably dorky.

"Definitely," she replied teasingly. "I want my feet in one piece after it's over."

He stuck his tongue out at her.

"I'm sure mother would _love _to teach us to dance together," Emily continued with a smirk.

She, of course, could already ballroom dance perfectly. Elizabeth Prentiss insisted on it.

Elizabeth _had _been badgering her to sharpen up her skills and had wanted to teach Spencer like forever. He always managed to squirm out of it, the sneaky genius, but not this time! This was going to be fun!

Spencer groaned


	25. 25th Feb: ComfortingUpset

Spencer rubbed his knuckles across his wet eyes. The tears, they wouldn't stop coming. He felt slim arms wrap around his torso from behind and pull him close. He resisted for a token few seconds before melting into her. His shoulders shook.

"Shhh," Emily whispered, stroking his hair.

That broke him. He started sobbing. He couldn't even do that right, they came out broken. His whole body shook. Emily wrapped herself around him tighter and made more soothing noises.

He turned his head into her chest and buried himself into her. His tears soaked her top. Emily's heart broke for him. Heck, hers wasn't doing too good either.

"It isn't a death sentence," she whispered into his ear, rubbing his back.

A phone call had come yesterday. It was Diana's doctor. Her medication had stopped being effective and she'd had a psychotic break. Thankfully, there weren't any injuries except for a few bruises to nurses. Nothing worse than that but it was Diana. She wasn't responding to her new medication.

Spencer was completely distraught. This was something he couldn't control, never had been able to control. It was always tearing him apart and normally it was in the background, always humming. Not today.

He didn't even know why this one hit him so hard. This had happened before and her doctors always managed to get her stable again and they had confirmed that they would find something. They were brilliant at their job. Why was this hitting him so hard?

He couldn't catch his breath. He was starting to panic. His breath came out in gasps. Emily moved him so his more upright.

"Calm down," she said lowly. "Deep breaths. In, out. In, out."

"That doesn't help," he muttered weakly but obeyed her and took deep breaths.

In, out. In, out.

Slowly, his breathing evened out. Emily kept rubbing his back, knowing it helped ground him. Where would he be without her?

"Alone and miserable," she teased quietly.

"I love you," Spencer said seriously, looking into her eyes. "Thank you."


	26. 26th Feb: Hanging Out

There was something nice about this. Satisfying even.

Emily looked up from her book and smiled at him. Spencer's heart fluttered in his chest as he looked back at his own book. It was fascinating. Or meant to be. It was kind of hard to concentrate when _someone's _foot was running up and down his extended leg.

He gave his girlfriend a look. Her foot went back to under her as she looked intently at her book, innocent as could be. He scrunched up his nose and decided not to say anything. Let her play. He flipped the page. Oh, diagrams.

The foot was back. This time a bit more daring. It went past his knee this time and teased him slightly before retreating. He waited patiently until it returned. It didn't take long.

With a swift right hand, Spencer grabbed the offending foot in triumph. Emily's shocked face smoothed into a smirk.

"What are you planning on doing with that, Dr Reid?" she purred dangerously.

He matched her smirk.

"This," he stated simply and quickly dragged his index finger down her sole.

She yelped loudly and wriggled violently. He let her ankle go and smiled in satisfaction. He won that round. Emily pouted. She was a bad loser. Spencer looked down at his book again, not reading it but knowing that ignoring her would _infuriate _her.

It worked. Remarkably quickly too. Emily scooted herself across their couch to sidle into his side.

"Spencer," she breathed into his neck.

He ignored her but couldn't help the smile tugging at his lips.

Then he yelped. The heavy book fell to the floor with a 'thunk'. He really hoped the neighbours didn't complain again. She had dug her fingers into his side! Spencer glared at his girlfriend who just looked back at him innocently. He pulled her close into a restricting hug.

"You have my attention," he growled into her ear. Now it was _her _turn to shiver.

She looked at him with those liquid chocolate eyes.

"That's all I wanted," she breathed and kissed him on the cheek.

He pressed ne to her forehead and brought her into a proper hug, breathing in her scent.

He rather liked this just existing together, he thought as they settled comfortably into each other's arms.


	27. 27th Feb: Confession

"Admit it," crowed Emily.

Spencer squirmed away from her.

"Never!" He spluttered.

She held him by the shoulders and loomed over him mischievously. There was a smirk on her face.

"I've got you right where I want you," she taunted.

"Nooooo," he whined, trying to shake her off.

"Admit it!"

"Your interrogation techniques are not good," Spencer stated with a grin, leaning in to kiss her on the nose. "I should probably bring that up with Hotch."

Emily's eyes narrowed. Time to bring out the big guns.

"Wha-?" spluttered Spencer. "Noooooo"

She was tickling him! That was cheating, the sneak. He flailed his arms, trying to push her away. Her deft fingers got _everywhere_. Spots he didn't even know he was ticklish. Spencer gasped as she hit a particularly sensitive spot. He mewled.

They wrestled off the couch and landed with several thuds on the floor. That was going to leave several marks. Emily was cackling. She was going to win this.

This continued for several minutes before Spencer broke. Ha. Her interrogation techniques were just fine, thank you _very much_.

"Say it!" she demanded not letting up, damp hair hanging in front of her eyes.

Spencer whined at her.

"Say it!"

"Okay, okay!" he gasped, trying to catch his breath as he weakly batted off her still but ready fingers.

She raised her eyebrow. He pouted.

"Go on."

Sighing heavily, Spencer righted himself so he was resting against the sofa. Emily leaned into him, brushing her hair behind her ears.

"Emily Prentiss is the best person ever…" he mumbled.

"Louder."

"Emily Prentiss is the best person ever," he repeated louder.

"_And_?"

His bottom lip poked out further.

"Do I have to?" he whined.

"I can always refine my interrogation techniques," she threatened. "As apparently I need the practice." Emily raised he hands again. "I'll start with behind your neck," she added.

His Adam's apple bobbed nervously. Her finger tips brushed at the scruff of his neck.

"I'll say. I'll say!"

The fingers moved away from his neck.

"From the top."

He sighed exasperatedly.

"Fine," he said through gritted teeth.

She tapped her fingers together.

"Emily Prentiss is the best person ever," he said clearly, then paused to gear himself up. "And knows more about Vonnegut than me."

"I don't you forget it!" bragged Emily, jumping up.

Spencer sulked.


	28. 28th Feb: First Kiss

It was decidedly awkward. They didn't know quite what to do with their arms. Do they put them by their sides? Or should they hug? Neither of them knew. Also, neither one of them was sure how far to push it. Do they apply more pressure? How much more than a peck should it be?

Emily did have to admit it was sort of nice. She had wanted to kiss Spencer for ages but had always chickened out. He already looked like he was going to have a heart attack every time she _touched_ him for heaven's sake.

And first kisses weren't meant to be perfect anyway. It was just something to build on. Something to start with.

She scrunched her nose slightly. She was using too much saliva but she couldn't exactly suck it back in, could she? She'd end up bringing Spencer's lips with her and that would make this entire situation more awkward.

Maybe she could open her eyes? Did she want to see his face?

The decision was taken out of her hands. Spencer pulled away from her. Emily didn't know if she wanted to groan, wanting more, or to sigh in relief so they could figure this out.

He looked at her shyly, looking very like a frightened rabbit and she was the fox. She smirked inwardly. She would make a good fox.

"We need practice," Emily said decidedly, looking at Spencer only slightly hesitantly. He still looked very stunned….

He bit his lip, still looking a bit shell-shocked but he nodded dazedly in agreement.

"Lots," he replied in wonderment.

"I'm okay with that," she said seriously.


End file.
